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Cited by 78Sepsis Diagnosis and TreatmentTrace Elements in HealthIron Metabolism and Disorders

Persistent low serum zinc is associated with recurrent sepsis in critically ill patients - A pilot study

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Hoeger, Janine, Simon, Tim-Philipp, Beeker, Thorben, Marx, Gernot, Haase, Hajo, Schuerholz, Tobias·2017·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0176069PMC PMC5417428
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Abstract

Zinc is an essential trace element for both pathogens and hosts. Hypozincemia is a well known phenomenon in sepsis patients and represents the innate immune systems attempt to deprive pathogens of zinc. However little is known about course, restitution and prognostic value of serum zinc levels in sepsis patients. We performed a prospective observational single-center study set in a tertiary care university hospital intensive care unit. Serum zinc levels were singularly measured of healthy controls and sequentially of surgical sepsis patients and surgical patients over a 8-day period. Throughout the study period, we report significantly decreased serum zinc levels in surgical and surgical sepsis patients compared to healthy controls. Lower serum zinc levels in surgical sepsis patients were associated with a higher susceptibility to a recurrent sepsis episode. Furthermore, surgical sepsis patients with a higher number of organ dysfunctions and increased in-hospital mortality at day 28 and 90 showed lower serum zinc levels at admission. We report serum zinc levels as a promising biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of sepsis patients. However, it is still unclear whether these findings are caused by an over-amplified redistribution of zinc during acute-phase response, or whether the critically ill patients were zinc deficient before sepsis.

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  • Fish oil has been administered in septic patients showing improvement in morbidity.

    “Fish oil has been administered in septic patients showing improvement in morbidity (272, 273, 274).”

    From ESPEN guideline on clinical nutrition in the intensive care unit. (2019) · cites this paper as [273]

    The Discussion (page not provided) describes a trial of nutrient-enriched enteral nutrition containing fish oil in critically ill patients, but says the trial was stopped because of a negative outcome in the intervention group. It does not report improved morbidity in septic patients. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Recent evidence tends to show that persistently low zinc concentrations might become an important biomarker of adverse outcomes in sepsis.

    “Recent evidence tends to show that persistently low zinc concentrations might become an important biomarker of adverse outcomes in sepsis [97].”

    From ESPEN practical and partially revised guideline: Clinical nutrition in the intensive care unit (2023) · cites this paper as [97]

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Authors
Hoeger, J., Simon, T.-P., Beeker, T., Marx, G., Haase, H., & Schuerholz, T.
Affiliations
  • Universitätsklinikum Aachen (DE)
  • Technische Universität Berlin (DE)
Corresponding author
Schuerholz, Tobias
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2017-05-04
Volume
12
Issue
5
Pages
e0176069
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0176069
PMC
PMC5417428
OpenAlex
W2611818727
Cited by
78
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
4.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • DepositOnce (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Technische Universität Berlin – Universitätsbibliothek (cc-by)
  • RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen)
Funders
B. Braun Melsungen
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Trace Elements in Health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
Keywords
serum zinc, hypozincemia, sepsis, recurrent sepsis, surgical sepsis, critically ill patients, organ dysfunction, in-hospital mortality, acute phase response, zinc deficiency
MeSH terms
Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Recurrence, Zinc, Critical Illness, Sepsis

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